Cinder, Marissa Meyer

Finally got around to reading Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I'm glad I waited a little while to read this one, because now I won't have to wait so long to read the upcoming sequel, Scarlet! I really enjoyed this young adult take on the classic Cinderella tale. This was a truly fresh way of looking at a story that has been told and re-told many, many times.
Sometime in the future, after a fourth world war, the world has a population of both humans and cyborgs. Cinder is a cyborg, but her stepmother and two stepsisters are completely human. This novel follows in the footsteps of the original story and has the stepmother as a not-so-nice lady, but only one of the stepsisters is also mean to Cinder. The second stepsister, Peony, is Cinder's best friend. They live in a small apartment in an over-crowded building in New Beijing and the world they live in is made even more difficult by the rapid spreading of a disease called lutmosis, which has no cure and which kills its victims rapidly, sometimes even within days.
Cinder works as a mechanic in order to earn income for her family. She can hardly believe her enhanced eyes when she looks up one morning and sees His Royal Highness, Prince Kai standing beofre her. His android has stopped working and he has sought our her services after hearing that she was the best mechanic in the land. But, he doesn't know she's a cyborg, and she'd like to keep it that way, especially since it seems he might actually like her!
There is no time for romance though, no time to think about maybe even going to the ball because Peony contracts the deadly lutmosis. Now Cinder has to work quickly to not only try and save her sister but also to try and fix the prince's android because it just might have the answers they are all needing.
I would recommend this book for girls ages 13 and up. It is a quick read not only because it is so well-written but also because it is based on an already-familiar story and so is easy to follow.